#i feel like most aa villains should have an accent

[musical-attorney]

Is just me or can I only here this man's voice in an Australian accent?

Maybe it's just the poses idk-

[puzzling-investigations]

Drowsy’s Guide to Germans - Part One

Hello everyone!

My name is Drowsy, this is my AA and PL sideblog, and this is a rediculous series I’m starting.

Stuff like this is not amongst my usual repertoire, but I’ve seen enough of people writing/dubbing/acting out German characters (in various fandoms) with bad German to decide an actual German should step in and do some talking and explaining. As Ace Attorney is one of the fandoms where people have multiple German-speaking characers with the possibility to converse, I decided to apply the post to this fandom (I could’ve also applied it to Overwatch, but somehow people really don’t feel like letting Mercy and Reinhardt talk German to one another).

In this multiple-part series, I will cover the following:

Different Germans (speaking English) and pronunciation advice for each (so mostly (voice) acting advice)

Things to watch when using German lingo (pronunciation/grammar bs) and terms of endearment/nicknames

Fun things about German (naming) culture you can include/watch out for.

Who is and isn’t German in AA, of the characters with “German” names, and to which degree they are.

Fun pronunciation/grammar/writing things

The sections will flow into each other a lot, I think.  Most of this advice applies to any German characters you write, so you can use this for other fandoms/media, too. The first part begins under the “Read more”.

    - Best of luck, Drowsy

Part 1: Different Germans (speaking English) and pronunciation advice for each

This section could probably use some additions, so if anybody wants to make them, please feel free to reblog and add!

Exhibit 1A: The International

In general, modern-day Germans usually learn English at school and have this lightly-accented pronunciation that is almost flawless, but there’s just something... Wrong. Something unplaceable yet absolutely German about it. Most English teachers here talk like this, although some lean in one or the other accentual direction (usually British or American).

The International has had a lot of exposure to the English language and also knows most of the pronunciations if he’s familiar with the word/related words. They might have grown up with someone who speaks English or be otherwise close to someone who speaks, if they didn’t learn at school.

If you find yourself dubbing/writing an International, be careful to keep your own and the character’s accent and neutral. Unless they’re “quirky” they won’t use random German words except for when they can’t remember the proper word. They’ll make an effort to speak English as well as possible as to not hinder the native speakers around them. If the character gets angry or excited, you can perhaps loosen that decree a little. Here’s the best sounds/grammar mistake to do it with:

- “Th” in any way, shape or form that isn’t “t”-sounding. Germans have a big problem with the “th” in “birthday”, which often turns out as “birs-stay”, a cause of much distress for me in primary school and kindergarten, where I would aggressively put weight on “th” and yell at people who should know better.7

- Idioms and figures of speech: Many of these overlap in German and English, but some are quite different. For example:

“to stand in a queue” is “to stand snake” in German. - Just beause you speak the language well, it doesn’t mean that you know all the idioms and figures of speech.

“to brush one’s teeth” is “to clean one’s teeth” in German. As a bilingual, this is a stupid little mix-up I often make, along with “to blow one’s nose”, which I turn into “to clean one’s nose” (I’ve done this in both languages).

Exhibit 1B: The Stereotype

This is your classical, Bond villain-esque German accent. Lots of “zat”, “ve”, and “neeeeiinn!” will be featured in their speech. 

This German is probably more on the old side and has either has/had horrible English teachers, no exposure to the language whatsoever, is making an effort to learn but are only going off reading or a mix of some or all of the three.

But these Germans can have varying degrees of skill with English grammar and vocabulary, which almost allows for sub-sections in this “article” – one might have read a lot of English books and studied grammar and vocabulary, but has never actually talked to a native speaker before. They other has heard native speakers before but just cannot/will not adjust their pronunciation because they cannot see how it differs from what they heard or believe they know how to pronounce stuff properly, because they are ‘hashtag better zan yoo’.

Exhibit 1C: The near-native speaker

They grew up/spent a lot of time talking English with a native speaker/hearing them speak. They might be better at speaking the language, but may have problems with English writing as they’ve learned by the hearsay. If you’re doing such a character, let them make spelling mistakes. They’ll make mistakes when reading stuff out loud, possibly repeating the word in the correct pronunciation once they’ve recognised it from its written form.

Exhibit 1D: The bilingual

This German is almost the same as the near-native and the International, but with one difference: They have an accent from within the English-speaking world and make no mistakes in pronuncitation or grammar, only perhaps in some of the less ovious spellings - like any English speaker. They’ll have no problems reading out loud (unless they have social anxiety or dislexia, I guess). But they will be victim of the classic bilingual pitfalls - forgetting random, often mundane words, using words from one language in the other with said other language’s grammar, the likes.

For example: My older brother has been described as “A German trying to sound British”, but is also slightly Amarican-sounding due to spending years of study in the States.

So, perhaps, he could fall under the “Interntional” category, but his correctness and lack of proper German accent make him unviable. - He does not have to try to speak/write/read proper English, unlike the Internation and the near-native, because he already does.

On the other hand, I have been described as sounding very British. This is mostly due to me getting more exposure the language thanks to a bilingual friend I met in 7th gade with whom I did and still do speak English on a regular basis. My sisters are very much a mix. My eldest sounds posh and very much like a speech sample from an Oxford Dictionary, the other is rather uplacable. We all cannot fall under categories 1A or 1C because we never “learned” English - we just spoke it and learned it at the same time as German, not being exposed to actual “bad” English until several years later.

[askaceattorney]

Dear Infinity Sparks,

Co-Mod:

Thank you very much!  I’ll take any Ace Attorney questions you have, but I’d probably prefer not to be on an actual game show.  I’m not very comfortable with cameras...

Dear Infinity Sparks,

Co-Mod:

Not a problem.  We both happen to be sticklers about spelling and grammar, so I’d actually insist that you point out errors like that.  Thanks!

Dear iamx-love,

Modthorne:

Heh, my favourite Ace Attorney character HAS to be Dahlia Hawthorne or Betty de Famme. I’ve always been an antagonist lover, and Dahlia felt like the perfect little demoness. And Betty seemed like a more violent version of me. As for my least favourite character, I would have to say... Either Manfred von Karma, or Phoenix Wright himself. Von Karma is for obvious reasons. Phoenix feels undeveloped, and he seems to only know what he’s doing when he’s working AGAINST the player. Call me crazy, but that’s how he acts to me.

Co-Mod: 

My favorite character and games are listed in a letter below, and my least favorite character...actually, I’m not even going to mention her by name.

In fact, if I could change one thing in the AA universe, it would probably be her attitude near the end of Trials and Tribulations.  That poor soul has some serious revenge issues.

Dear thereminbeholder,

Modthorne:

Thanks for the congrats! I can’t wait to see all the letters we get. Some of them are actually really funny, and some are really unique questions. It’s really exciting!

Co-Mod:

Thanks a lot!  I’m already having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, and I have a feeling the Ace Attorney crew will be a fine group of people to work with.  Although I am a little concerned about that whip-happy lady with the German accent...

Dear Chris,

Co-Mod:

That’s a fair question, and I’m glad you brought it up.  Technically speaking, we didn’t buy the game (although you can bet we would have if we could), but at the same time, we’re not actually playing it.  We’re simply viewing it and emulating the characters found in it.  While watching a video of someone else playing a game is fun, it takes away the interactive aspect of it, which is what I believe I’m paying for when I buy a game.

So, to me it’s the same as watching a friend’s video that he or she bought. ��On top of that, the fans who were nice enough to translate it for us English-speakers didn’t ask for anything in return, so why look a gift horse in the mouth?  I’m sure even Judge Courtney would agree.

Dear Eveshowrtc,

Thanks! The “To Modthorne” tag has been added already, so that’s a good update now. Now you can ask to specifically me or the Co-Mod. It’s a lot more organized~!

Dear Inferno,

I can do this job while I’m in high school because my high school is unique and I don’t get a lot of homework. That will change in september most likely, but I’m sure I’ll still have enough time for this.

Dear FernandoLemon,

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the link to the typo. The Co-Mod captured this for me while I was busy, and he didn’t save the link for me. But by the way you’re wording it, I’m sure it’s not too bad. If you would like me to look at it, maybe you could send it to me on my main blog, prcttylittlcnightmarcs.

Co-Mod:

Edit: It’s been fixed!  Sorry about that.

Dear SC,

Not at all -- questions are what I’m here for!

My rankings for favorite games, from top to bottom, are as follows:

1. Dual Destinies

2. Spirit of Justice

3. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

4. Trials and Tribulations

5. AA Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

6. AA Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Path

7. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

8. Justice For All

9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

(As an interesting side note here, this is one of those rare series where I rate sequels as being better than their predecessors.)

My favorite music from the entire series is undoubtedly the Pursuit theme from Dual Destinies, Keep Pressing On.  No other song sounds quite as epic and invigorating, and it just fits beautifully with the “Now we’re getting somewhere!” atmosphere of the game.  A close second would be the Pursuit theme from AA Investigations, Lying Coldly.  I’ve also always enjoyed the Turnabout Sisters’ Ballad from the trilogy.

My favorite protagonist (and overall character) would have to be Athena Cykes, since she and I have a lot in common, and since she’s just plain awesome.  My other favorites are:

Rival: Miles Edgeworth

Assistant: Maya Fey

Villain: The main villain of AA Investigations 2, whose name I won’t divulge

Main Character: Phoenix Wright

Victim: Mia Fey

Witness: Phineas Filch

And as the Modthorne has recently announced, letters to characters in Gyakuten Kenji 2, known in America as Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor’s Path, will now be just ‘kay!

For those who are wondering, we’ll be using the names given to the characters in the fan translation of the game, which can be viewed here.  I would advise watching it if you haven’t in order to prepare for their letter responses.

And finally, my personal favorite Ace Attorney moment had to be this one.

You can tell Capcom wants the moment to be special when they reserve an animation for that part alone.

Dear Inferno,

Thank you very much!  I’m looking forward to it as well.  I’ve done some roleplaying before, including doing a few fun threads with the Modthorne, but never to this degree.  Here’s hoping we can keep things running as smoothly as they have been under one Mod’s supervision.

And by the way, an equal thanks to everyone who was nice enough to include some encouraging comments on my introductory letter.  I can tell this will be a great community to join.

-The Co-Mod